Río Almonte

The Rio Almonte crossing marks the end of a long, waterless stretch from Casar de Caceres. There is a municipal albergue down the road -- a wonderful new building with an excellent view over the reservoir -- but it has a history of problems related to its construction which make it hard to predict if it will be open for the season. It's included here for the sake of completeness, but check ahead before counting on it.

The bridge itself is substantial, and the reservoir below feeds into the Embalse de Alcantara. This is wild, remote country -- dehesa as far as you can see, with black Iberian pigs and the occasional eagle overhead. The landscape between here and Canaveral is some of the emptiest on the entire Via de la Plata.